POW 3267

Quiet heroes of World War 2

Let us honour if we can / The vertical man
Though we value none / But the horizontal one.

W H Auden

These were the lines that came to mind when I was invited to write this preface. It is a pleasure to pay tribute to Mac, the farmer’s boy from Northern Ireland who became one of the many quiet heroes of World War 2.  Mac’s story shows that war, despite its horrors, can have a positive effect – it calls forth unexpected depths of individual courage; it reinforces the desire for freedom; and it confirms a person’s faith. These are the qualities revealed in Mac the man and in his story, “POW 3267”.

No negative effects of Mac’s experiences are apparent either in Mac himself or in his story.  It has never been in his character to feel self-pity, complacency or resentment.  Mac did not need counselling or any of today’s comforts to bring him to terms with the trauma of escaping from a burning aircraft, surmounting severe injuries, and being subsequently faced with incarceration in Stalag Luft 3. He had good reason by then to be grateful to the German surgeon in whose medical care he had remained for nine months in hospital – as a POW.  Mac was as sensitive to the situation of his captors as he was to the plight of all those who shared his suffering in captivity.

Soon after I met Mac and  found out about his experiences, I asked him two questions.  The first was, “ In view of the post-war controversy over the bombing of German cities, how did you feel about the role you had played?” Mac’s reply was unhesitating, “At the time, it was a job well done. We had to see it as achieving the maximum destruction possible, but it was really regrettable.” Mac and his wife paid a post-war visit to Hamburg. They were able to reflect on the fact that in one night of bombing 90 per cent of the city was destroyed. The second question was, “What about all that wartime hatred?” Mac’s comment was, “The time is past for hatred . . . it’s a matter of Christian faith – to love your enemies and to love your neighbour as you love yourself.”

The task of writing began with Mac’s own massively modest and understated account: it spanned only seven pages.  Mac’s son, Simon, deserves praise for devotedly getting the story into its present form. He was spurred on by an advert he placed on a website, ww2exraf, which led to some helpful responses from Mac’s former associates and their relatives. Simon’s principal sources of information, however, were French researchers/ writers/historians and the MacKenzie family, in addition to the PRO(Public Record Office) at Kew.

In completing his own mission, Simon was struck by the enormous interest by different age groups in the part played by the RAF in World War 2. For example, three respondents were the grand-daughters of some of Mac’s former fellow-prisoners. We can hope, therefore, that the final story is one to be read not only by today’s readers but by generations to come. “Lest we forget. . .”  Ironically, the more we can strive to pass on Mac’s example of strength of character, tolerance and positive faith, the more hopeful we can be that one day we shall have a world without wars and POWs.